Megaliths for an Ancient Solar Calendar

Category Archives: Calendar

Kanayama Megaliths Leap-year Observation Spotlight of February 27 and 28

The topic of this post at the Kanayama blogsite is the leap-year observation at Stone bin Iwaya-Iwakage. It takes place on 10/14 and 10/15 and is repeated on 2/27 and 2/28. The photos for 2/27 and 2/28, when the light returns to the stone, are shown .

Of further interest is the ongoing study of the 128-year leap-year cycle. Themeasurement of 6 cm was recorded.

52 years have elapsed in the current 128-year cycle of the Kanayama Megaliths calendar. It will next be revised around the year 2094, 76 years from now. We consider the position of the light (in the photo) is as expected. This is in accordance with the theory described in the Guidebook, page 66, as shown at the top of this page.

The post’s concluding remarks were:

Although it is still cold this year, since the sun is steadily heading for spring, there is nothing to worry about. People in the Jomon period must have grasped the changing period of vegetation as well. Nevertheless, their power to build such a calendar building is great ….

The face of the Sekimen stone in Iwaya-Iwakage is lit by a spotlight for five days from February 15 to 19. February 19 marks the end of the 120-day winter season. (The exact number of days was 119.) The 120 days of winter can be divided into the 60 days of Early Winter ending on the Winter Solstice and the 60 days of Late Winter following the Solstice.

The Kanayama blogsite has posted two photos taken on 2018.02.19 at 13:23 and 13:33. Note how well the lower edge of the spotlight matches the edge of the Sekimen. Comparison of the two photos shows that the solar altitude has decreased during the ten minutes lapse, causing the spotlight to move higher “up” the stone face. The spotlight of 2/19 matches that of 10/23, because the sun’s altitude is the same on these two days.

Here is a view of the beam of light entering from the crevice above. Three megaliths form the crevice and shape the sunbeam in exactly the right way.

The dates 2/19, 4/22, 8/20, and 10/23 are astronomical cross-quarter days. Compare the corresponding dates of the two calendars and we find that they differ only by 0, 1, 2, or 3 days. The summer solstice date is exactly right for India and for Japan. The winter solstice dates are 12/21 for India and 12/22 for Japan, so they do agree. The spring and autumn equinoxes are the middle date of both the Vedic and the Jomon calendars.

How the Jomon determined the seasonal dates. You may be wondering what is the rule for the dates of 2/19, 4/22, 8/20, and 10/23 in the Jomon calendar. These are the dates when the sun’s altitude at noon is half-way between those of the winter solstice and the equinoxes for dates 10/23 and 2/19; half-way between those of the summer solstice and the equinoxes for dates 4/22 and 8/20. These dates are called yontobun in Japanese. It means dividing the zone of the sky between the highest and lowest altitudes into four parts.

How did the Vedic calendar determine the seasonal dates? Of the Hindu calendar it can be said: Seasons follow the sun; months follow the moon; days follow both sun and moon.The seasonal dates of the Vedas roughly correspond to seasonal weather patterns, as can be seen from Monsoon as the late summer season. But why these exact dates? The calendar of the solar year is important for scheduling religious festivals. The ancient people of India were excellent astronomers who carefully studied the skies. They were familiar with the planets and the stars. So they must have had a good reason for selecting these particular dates. What was their reason?

Discussion. From Internet articles about the Hindu religious calendar, we learned that government astronomers studied the position of the sun as it rose against the distant stars in order to determine the seasonal dates. This is not unlike the Jomon astronomers who used the position of the sun in the daytime sky to determine their seasonal dates. Once the Jomon people had set up the working megalithic observatory at Kanayama, they could simply watch the sunlight patterns to calibrate their calendar. They constantly monitored and updated their solar calendar so that it remained accurate to within one day.

While the dates of the six seasons of the Vedic and Jomon calendars agree closely, it is only a matter of time before the Vedic dates will drift slowly away, the effect of earth’s axial precession relative to the distant stars. The Jomon calendar may still be keeping good time, since it is watching the sun relative to Earth.

Chika-san attended the Asadori Myoujin Himukae ceremony for the revival of the sun’s power. It took place as the sun rose in the south-east on the morning of winter solstice, shining directly into the center of the altar. Below is the altar before the sunrise, and then immediately as the sunlight illuminated the sacred object within.

Above is a photo of the priest explaining the ritual. He shouted the cock-crowing “Ko-ki-ko!” three times as a greeting to the sun. The group recited “Oh!”. This is a cry of joy that the sun is returning. Chika-san said that this ritual that musters life-force is very moving. The bright lights are the flashlights people are holding while it is still dark before sunrise.

Sun stones.Once, there were behind the hokora, a Sun Stone and five stones behind it. Now there are only three, because two of them were moved. The two men who touched the stones were subsequently afflicted with illness. That is why there are only three stones behind the Sun Stone, and no one is permitted to move the other two back. Lining up each of the three stones with the Sun Stone is the way to view sunrise at three distinct times of the year. In the photo below, the Sun Stone is indicated by a red dot, and the three alignment stones are marked with blue dots.

We conclude our three-part series reporting on the Kanayama Megaliths blog about the winter solstice. In the early afternoon of the solstice, the simulator is displaying perfectly the path of the sunlight. The spot of light strikes the observation panel precisely, which glows as if lit from within.

The winter sunset is also observable near the Senkoku-ishi. There is a pair of megaliths that clearly has been naturally divided in two. First take a look at the set-up. The sun is already striking the pair.

If you stand in back of the gap at sunset, you can gaze on this striking sight!

The reason that all these winter observations are possible in the mountainous terrain of the Kanayama Megaliths is that the megalith sites are intelligently located so as to take advantage of the astronomical geometry, i.e., the line to the winter solstice setting sun. Moreover, isn’t this a magnificent view of the place where the sun goes to rest in winter?

By 10:15, the group is down to the lower site. The sun is just rising over the mountain. It starts to bathe the central megalith of Iwaya-Iwakage which is on the highest ground.

The sunlight enters the chamber of Iwaya-Iwakage. The slant angle is just right for the face of the central megalith. Iwaya-Iwakage is where observations are made during the winter season from 60 days before the solstice to 60 days after.

Winter sunset can be observed here. The observation post is at the right foot of the long grooved megalith on the left side as you enter the chamber. This is just one boulder, not two. A deep groove has been carved so that the observer can see the setting sun. Note how the sunlight just barely skims the flank of the boulder. This delicate and dramatic spectacle can only be seen at solstice time. From the observation post, the sun is seen as it sets in the south west.

Next, we will visit the lower site of the simulator and the Senkoku-ishi area.

This is part one of the winter solstice report from Shiho Tokuda, describing the hike up Higashinoyama. The original is posted on the Kanayama Megaliths blog. Early in the morning of December 22, 2017, the observation group met at the lower megaliths site. Although astronomical sunrise is at 7 a.m., due to the mountainous terrain, the sun would appear later on the mountain.

There is no trail up to the megaliths, so it is rough going. At 8:40, after a difficult hike, the long megalith is seen through the trees. The members took turns at the snow-covered observation post. They were rewarded with a view of the winter sun peeking bravely through the trees of the forest.